What happens if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Bank of Ireland Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Leeds?

The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

My relative recommended that where I am purchasing in Leeds I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Leeds conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Leeds around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Leeds Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Leeds.

The deeds to my house can not be found. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Leeds 5 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?

Gone are the days when you need to hold title original deeds to evidence that you are the owner of your registered land or property, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.

How do I locate a Leeds law firm on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am prepared to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the conveyancer.

You can use the facility on this website. Please pick a bank and your location and you will see a number of Leeds conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some Leeds conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to see if they are on the Skipton Building Society panel

I am attracted to a two flats in Leeds both have in the region of fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Leeds. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field.

Leeds Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Leeds leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Leeds. If you love the apartmentin Leeds however your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard determination. The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. The answer will be helpful as a) areas may result in problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details